The Skeleton in my Closet: a Grian VS NPC Grian Fanfiction

Chapter 9, Scar

We.... couldn't find Mumbo.

We'd searched everywhere. His farms, his vault, even the place he'd picked out for his mega base, he wasn't anywhere. We'd searched for hours.

We couldn't stay up all night searching, because we didn't want creepers and skeletons spawning, so we began back to my base.

When we arrived, I invited Grian to stay the night. He gently declined, and began walking down the path leading to his base.

"Wait!" I shouted.

He turns around, a dejected look in his eyes, and I rush over to him.

"Take this."

I offer him some golden carrots and a diamond helmet. As he reaches for them, our hands brush together. He pauses for a moment, then bursts into tears.

Dropping the stuff he wrapped his arms around me and buried his face in my chest. His sobs pierced me like arrows, and soon I too had tears running down my cheeks.

I understood. He was scared. I was too, but for him it must've been ten times worse. He'd been friends with Mumbo for a long time, longer even than me. Me and Grian wouldn't even be friends if it wasn't for Mumbo.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, we let each other go. Grian picks up the carrots and puts on the helmet, and begins off to his base, still crying but at least smiling.

I watch until his form disappears into the trees, then I head down the path to my own house.

As I opened my door I heard running footsteps behind me, and was immediately tackled to the ground.

I flipped over to see who it was, and I saw....

Grian?

He'd already shut the door and was trying to barricade it with anything he could find. His face was pale, and he was sweating.

I sat there, bewildered for a moment, until I heard him muttering under his breath.

"He's back. He's come back for revenge. He's going to kill me. How did he find me?"

I stood up and tried getting his attention.

"Grian? Hey, Grian?"

"Grian?"

"GRIAN!"

I grabbed his shoulders and faced him towards me.

He looked at me for a second, almost like he had forgotten where he was for a moment, then he lowered his head. His shoulders shook with sobs, but this time he did not try to embrace me.

I gently led him over to my breakfast nook, and we sat down. He still sat there with his head hung, avoiding looking up at me. The silence was deafening, broken only by his quiet sobs and the occasional sniff.

I waited, I wasn't going to pry. He didn't need that right now. All he needs right now is a friend, someone to be here, without any kind of pressure.

I reached up and touched the scars on my face, and smiled. I could feel them distort under my fingertips, as I reminisced about a time when he'd helped me in the same way.

"It's him."

Breaking myself from my thoughts I looked up. He was still hanging his head, but his shoulders had stiffened. His voice had an unnerving clarity about it.

"Who Grian?"

He leaned over the table, holding his face in his hands. He was breathing deeply, as though he was trying to compose himself.

"It's NPC Grian. He's come back to hunt me down. He's done something to Mumbo, and I'm next."

NPC Grian?

Still his voice was stark, despite the fact that his hands nearly covered his mouth.

He sat that way for a few minutes, breathing deeply. He gently relaxed his shoulders. It released a calming aura into the room, and I could feel my own tension disperse in tandem with him. He was breathing more slowly now.

My eyelids were heavy, and I felt them drooping. Grian seemed to take notice of this, and offered for us to go to bed. I gladly agreed, hoping perhaps we would both feel much better in the morning.

He led me to the bedroom. I offered him my bed, as I got a spare from my chests, but he refused.

I was too tired to argue with him, and so I crawled into bed.